Yaniv Taubenhouse: Hope

In the liner notes to Hope, Yaniv Taubenhouse's eloquently stated solo venture, the young pianist goes a long way to explain what brought him to the music he generously bequeaths us here. How one key besets the next and so on. How one tone leads to another and another. It might enhance the listening experience for some but, truth be simply told, listening repeatedly to Hope is all you need to gain insight to Taubenhouse's serene tone and intent.

Down the ages, great art has inspired us to celebrate even the most common of our everyday victories, and Hope is another iteration of that. It's an oasis, a thread of unison. The music presented here is a warm wellspring to bring yourself to, to drink, and let go the exhaustion that has begun to inhabit all our moments. It's a pure dance of hope and ideals stated with a simple elegance and eloquence, transporting you without friction into its quiet atmosphere.

Take for example, the pianist's 3/4 cotillion step reading of Cole Porter's effervescent "It's Alright With Me" from the 1953 musical Can Can. It could be the defining moment of the twelve pieces presented here if not for the other eleven. For each has its place in the natural order, so the brave resilience of "Once Upon a Time—Chapter One" begins with a feeling that you're entering into any of documentarian Ken Burns probing autopsies into the national psyche. The music moves you to look at the picture and see the past—all its wrongs and rights, all it's glory and tragedy, all the times private citizens didn't step up and decide without reserve what you can do to make the history of this flailing moment better. Kenny Wheeler's beguiling "Consolation" rolls off the pianist's fingers as fluidly as any of his own eight originals.

Perhaps one of the more honest tonal narratives to date, Hope never denies the promise and poetry inherent in us all. "On the Kookoo—for Dave Schnitter" eases in with a wayward sense of antiquity. "Conversation" is that and more, moving through its melodic space with a clear and concise vision. "Prelude to the Ozarks" leads to the bluesy hop of Thelonious Monk's quirky "We See," and what more need be said except that Hope never disappoints. And that's something that can't be said about so many things.

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